It is impossible to solve the climate change emergency by disintegrating democracies

President BidenJoe BidenBiden tells Zelensky that the US and its allies will’respond decisively” if Russia invades Harris and Biden to speak on the anniversary of the Capitol insurrection Republican opposition is fierce to Biden’s selections for the court LEARN MORE’s climate agenda was launched with hopes, prayers and the expectation of leadership to all world democracies, like a glorious ship set on a maiden voyage: the SS Biden. It is now deeply concerned that it was driven onto rocks by stormy seas. Although it is still intact, it needs to be freed by a high tide.

The SS (Steam Ships) Biden is defined as being powered by oil and coal. One is reminded of the disregard for the safety of passengers on the Titanic highlighted by several of the company’s questionable decisions, You can also sail during a fire. due to spontaneous combustion in coal was burning in a bunker, likely contributing to the ship’s untimely end.

Despite the world’s climate heating crisis, the Biden ship is still powered by fossil fuels and the U.S. liquefied natural gas export capacity will be the world’s largest by end of 2022Australia and Qatar follow closely.

Yes, other countries burn this gas. However, the three rich exporting countries don’t have to account for these domestic emissions. Scope 3 emissions are a complex issue. Their import and use in some countries will hinder the development of clean energy and decentralization. Indeed, Solar household systemsThey are the best and most affordable solution in Africa, Bangladesh, and other Asian countries.

The U.S. could lead the world in reducing emissions from coal and gas, and pressuring other wealthy exporters to take their place.

I have described Gas’s imminent dangersClimate change has been controlled before, including dangers that the U.S. accepted in its promise to reduce methane emissions 30 percent by 2030.

However, the U.S. will continue to burn oil and natural gas for the next ten years. predicted to consume 10 percent of the entire world’s remaining carbon budgetIf global warming is to remain below 1.5 degrees Celsius, this cannot be exceeded. Australia may add another 10 percent.

How can this be accepted in the U.S. by the government and the public? UN modelling shows that even if all nations deliver their COP26 Climate Summit pledges, warming by 2050 is still possible.It is expected to be around 2.5 degrees Celsius. Currently, with 1.1 degrees Celsius of  warming there are terrible impacts from extreme weather including the recent ferocious Colorado wildfires. These are only a few of the future devastations that will lead to national economies being completely destroyed by infrastructure repairs.

Evidently, President Biden was very dependent on domestic emissions reductions by a variety of measures in his Build Back Better initiative. This initiative was grounded on the rocks. a democratic congressmanWho seems to accept climate change, but opposes restrictions on fossil fuel production. The president must now resort to Executive orders and a wide range of other measuresThese do not require legislation.

This brings us back to the core of the problem. Our western democracies are unable to reach consensus on issues that threaten humanity’s existence. This includes the most powerful democracy anywhere in the world.

A recent article in the EconomistOn threats to American democracy, the blame is placed on extreme partisanship. Each major party focuses on voting reform, which can mean different things to each party. This fails to understand that the threat to democracy resides in its inherent inadequacy to deal with today’s urgent and overwhelming world issues.

The United States has 109 members of Congress and 30 senators that refuse to acknowledge scientific evidence of climate change caused by humans. These members Have received more than $61 millionsIn lifetime contributions from the oil and gas industries.

Many elected officials refused to accept the science of vaccination or the need to recommend simple preventative measures such as mask-wearing in the COVID-19 epidemic.

Many people around the world are amazed by this comparison of climate and COVID positions to a return to pre-enlightenment times, as made common by elected representatives and their supporters. The United States has lost its ability to define facts and truth, and climate change is now a hoax. Is this the same nation that can put a man on Mars and provide countless scientific advances to humanity? 

The U.S. isn’t the only country experiencing democratic disintegration. Although climate denial and antivaccination sentiment are prevalent in many countries, they have not become as severe as in the United States.

Over the past forty years, the failures by liberal democracies and especially climate change to address environmental problems have become more apparent. These failures were outlined in 2007.They remain unaddressed today. One failure has been identified as the problem: the need to seperate governance and corporate capitalism. 

The common factor in current democratic failures is the unwillingness of government officials to acknowledge that many of our problems are so complex, urgent, and beyond the comprehension or abilities of elected officials. Two other interrelated issues compound the issue of climate emergency: Elected officials put their political survival above collective needs, and many defers to an overwhelmingly powerful fossil fuel sector for personal gain. 

To become relevant today, elected governments have to be prepared to accept advice and guidance from independent commissions of scientists and other relevant experts selected by their peers — and not by political appointment. All parties and the general public need to have access to the details. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), with appointees chosen by peers and not elected, could be a good starting point for many countries. 

Currently, SS Biden is sailing to its doom. When the iceberg ripped a hole in the “unsinkable” Titanic the orchestra continued playing “Nearer my God to Thee” while the ship sank. The passengers of the upper social class, rich bankers and industrialists, were quickly seated in lifeboats while the lower-class working poor went to their watery graves. 

Today, the upper crust, the moneyed titans, seem secure in their gated communities and there is speculation that they have already constructed their own space lifeboats, ahead of the world’s Titanic moment, to journey to a liveable planet in an abundant universe awaiting exploitation.

David Shearman(AM, Ph.D. FRACP, FRCPE, FRACP) is a professor of medicine at University of Adelaide, South Australia. He is also co-founder of Doctors for the Environment Australia. He is co-author of “The Climate Change Challenge and the Failure of Democracy” (2007) commissioned by the Pell Centre for International Relations and Public Policy.